QUESTIONS 1.-Please explain the apparent contradiction between 1 John 2:27, "Ye need not that any man teach you," and the fact that teachers were given to the Church.
Answer.- The preceding verse shows that it was human teaching the apostle was guarding them against. They had an unction from God,-divine perception,-and were therefore independent of human teachers, who after all could but seduce or lead them astray. But this, so far from casting a slight upon God-given teachers, opens the way for them. We have eyes, we need no one to see for us, but we do need to have things pointed out to us. And this is exactly the function of the teacher; he points out what is in God's word. We then can see it as well as he. A few verses above, in this very chapter, ver. 21, the apostle says he has written because they know the truth; that is, had the faculty for apprehending it when shown to them. This, so far from obviating the necessity for his writing, was the justification for his doing so.
Q. 2.-What is the meaning of the expression, "If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked "? (2 Cor. 5:3.) W. S. H.
Ans.- This third verse has evidently not the same meaning as verses 2 and 4. There the expressions are "clothed upon" and "unclothed," referring respectively to the resurrection body and the disembodied spirit. In verse 3, however, we have not "unclothed," but "naked," which seems to have a distinct moral meaning in Scripture – unfitness for the presence of God. (Rev. 3:17, 18.) Instead of "clothed upon," we have simply "clothed,"-having the "best robe"-Christ – put upon us. The verse, then, means simply that the apostle was saved, was ready to depart and be with Christ. He was already clothed, and therefore had no fear of being found naked, even if unclothed as to his mortal body. The thought seems to be suggested naturally from the second verse. He is then speaking of the natural hope of the Christian of being "clothed upon,"-having his resurrection body,- and adds, "If, indeed, being also clothed, we shall not be found naked,"-that is, if, indeed, we are saved people, and not mere professors.